10-09-2010, 04:33 AM
Bangshift recently posted this 1969 Chevy Nova, found for sale on eBay (NO LONGER FOR SALE). It’s a rust free California car, complete with a vinyl and fabric bench front seat, column shifter and horizontal speedometer. It was repainted in 1984, in a shade of blue best described as “anonymous”. It’s even got steel wheels and dog-dish hubcaps, so somebody’s gone to extraordinary lengths to make this car say, “move along, nothing to see here.”
Look a bit closer, and the illusion begins to fade. Are those traction bars I see? And that rear end wasn’t a stock Chevy item either. What’s with the additional gauges inside the car, or those dual exhausts? Start the car, and the illusion shatters like an empty vodka bottle hitting the pavement: there wasn’t a Nova built that rolled off the assembly line sounding this angry.
Pop the hood, and you’ll immediately find the source of the ground-shaking rumble. Tucked between the Nova’s front wheel wells is a 540 cubic inch big block Chevy motor, good for some 725 horsepower on pump gas. It’s mated to a Turbo 400 tranny and a nine inch Ford rear, ensuring that the differential isn’t ground to metal filings when you stomp the fun pedal. No expense was spared in the build, and all the work was done by professionals. This is no shade-tree mechanic special, and it’s ready, willing and able to terrorize men, women and children, especially those stupid enough to throw down against you at a traffic light. If you can get the tires hooked up, I can’t think of too many street cars that will run with you in a straight line.
The quality of the build may be its downfall, as well. The seller wants a starting bid of $35,500, which may be more than a little ambitious in the current economy. He actually goes so far as to say “Please, no $20,000 offers, either”, so you know he’s not planning on coming down much from his asking price. The car is beautiful and looks to be well built, and I wish the current owner all the luck in the world selling it. Just like real estate, the market dictates the price, not how much the seller has into it.
![[-]](https://mach1club.com/images/collapse.png "[-]")
